Wednesday’s “Nashville” finale will be the last episode to air on ABC, but producing studio Lionsgate TV is assuring viewers it will not represent the end of the show’s story.<\/p>\n
“#Nashies What a cliffhanger,” Tweeted the studio following the episode. “But we won\u2019t leave you hanging. There’s more story to be told. #BringBackNashville”<\/p>\n
The referenced cliffhanger concerns the fate of Juliette Barnes, played by Hayden Panettiere.<\/p>\n
After finally coming clean about her addiction, her demons, and the circumstances surrounding Jeff Fordham’s death, Juliette ditched the ongoing Academy Awards ceremony – at which she was nominated – to fly home to her daughter Cadence and ex-husband (but ongoing love interest) Avery.<\/p>\n
Avery brings Cadence to the airport to greet Juliette but receives alarming news while waiting on the runway. Air traffic control received a distressed signal from Juliette’s jet and had since lost contact. The episode, as well as the series’ ABC run, ended without revealing Juliette’s fate.<\/p>\n
Lionsgate does not yet have a deal for a fifth season, but it has been talking with various cable and streaming networks about continuing the series. The public promise of a resolution is both a sign of the network’s confidence and<\/i> a way to rally more fan support for the “Bring Back Nashville” movement.<\/p>\n
The decision to air the cliffhanger ending is seemingly based on similar logic.<\/p>\n
Aware that cancellation was a possibility, “Nashville” reportedly shot an alternative, happier, more definitive ending for Wednesday’s episode. But even though the cancellation came, “Nashville” decided to air the cliffhanger, which is more suited for a season finale than series finale.<\/p>\n
Such a decision clearly required optimism about the show’s future, but it also represents a valuable strategic move: a show with an open-ended “season finale” — one that will have fans demanding answers — is clearly more attractive to a new network than one that decisively ended its narrative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[1048],"tags":[233,239],"adace-sponsor":[],"yoast_head":"\n